Kellys family points finger

Published: July 18, 2003 8:00 PM

SOUTHMOOR, England (AP) David Kelly was a respected family man who rode horses and played cribbage on the pub team in his quiet, Oxfordshire village, a world away from his high-stakes work as a top Iraq weapons expert.

That larger world led the 59-year-old scientist into stressful, unpleasant circumstances, caught in the middle of a no-holds-barred battle between the media and the government over the honesty of Prime Minister Tony Blairs case for war.

Two days after he testified before Parliament, Kelly committed suicide, slitting his wrist, authorities said Saturday. His death has shaken Britains government and raised questions about whether Blair has blood on his hands.

In Southmoor a hamlet little more than a bend in the road, with a Methodist church, hairdresser, newsstand, convenience store and pub family and friends remembered Kelly for his integrity. Some complained a decent man had been exploited by ruthless politicians trying to duck a scandal.

Events over recent weeks have made Davids life intolerable, and all of those involved should reflect long and hard on this fact, the Kelly family said in a statement Saturday. A loving private and dignified man has been taken from us all.

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Steven Ward, landlord of the Hinds Head pub, said, Hes been made a fall guy.

Davids too straight. David wouldnt lie about anything, Ward said. This is Blair and his cronies trying to find someone to get them out.

Kelly, a Defense Ministry expert and former U.N. weapons inspector, had spoken off the record with a British Broadcasting Corp. reporter about intelligence on Iraqi weapons. He was investigated as the possible source of BBC claims that Blairs communications chief, Alastair Campbell, had hyped weapons intelligence to help justify going to war.

The BBC reporter said Campbell insisted that a dossier on Iraq, published by the government in September, include a claim that Saddam Hussein could deploy chemical and biological weapons within 45 minutes even though intelligence experts doubted it.

Blairs government and the BBC lashed out at each other for weeks with claim and counterclaim, demands for an apology and refusals. Neither side seemed prepared to give an inch in a fight over credibility.